Asperger’s Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Summit – Spring Arbor

Spring Arbor University plans to host an autism summit for the community on April 30. Asperger’s and High Functioning Autism: Putting the Pieces Together, A community Venture, will be held in SAU’s Ralph Carey Forum in the Student Center from 8:00-11:00 a.m.

The event is open to the public and free thanks to the Jackson Community Foundation. It will include a light breakfast and a range of topics about the disorder.

The summit will address accurate diagnosis for those with autism and Asperger’s along with strategies used while working with these individuals, as well as sector discussions, and an overview regarding the understanding of Asperger’s. The summit hopes to attract a diverse range of people in order to get usable feedback and varying opinions and input.

The hope of the summit will be to arrive at a collective vision in order to better address the needs of the autistic and Asperger’s syndrome community. “It’s a population that hasn’t gotten a lot of help,” says Terri Pardee, associate professor of psychology at SAU. Pardee says the summit is looking to get people from many different businesses and workplaces such as Target, Walmart, McDonald’s, local law enforcement, etc.

Opportunities will be available for businesses to take an assessment to see how accessible their sites are to this population and receive approval and a sticker to put on their building as being approved for access among the Asperger’s and autistic community.

Partners in the summit include SAU, Jackson Community Foundation, Jackson Intermediate School District, Life Ways of Jackson, and Recovery Technology. The event is RVSP only. To reserve a seat, contact Terri Pardee at 517.750.6319 or tpardee@arbor.edu.